"A family located in north London wants to find an remarkable and skilled tutor to support their smallest child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might readily skip the phrase "beginning" as just a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the crucial element of this unique job advert, as it aims to find a teacher for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
In recent few weeks, the post has attracted interest across the news, with several wondering why?
Progressive Approach
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is assisting the family in their search, stated that notwithstanding initial doubt, he viewed the idea "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he said they recognized the unusual nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
However, they explained that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had postponed until their firstborn was five, and by that point "cultural conditioning had already taken hold".
What exactly did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", he responded. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He stated the elder child had picked up "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family informed him they wished to avoid the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who needs to speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is kind of acquired indirectly," explained Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will adopt the UK customs they want to impart.
The consultant said the tutor must be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – comparable categories of schools as the family plan to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they may not realize they're doing, just naturally," he said.
Money No Object
The family explained to Adam the chosen tutor should preferably also have knowledge of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
Additionally though, he said the family desired the tutor to sign up the child on a range of lessons so the child would be "horseback riding and learning an musical instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son become a "British gentleman" will lead to accomplishment and provide access.
"Taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he comments.
Yet, in spite of all this instruction in "English culture", could the child adopt what is termed cultural influence from the multicultural family he resides with anyway?
"Certainly", said he. "The parents understand this could fail, but they've simply adopted the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and we'll proceed as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who express those concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of Blue Education, who provides individual instructors, stated that "the development of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
The expert noted that he had moved from Asia to the UK at the age of childhood, and had been educated understanding and living dual heritages. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can somehow impart the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a infant child, appears optimistic and impractical," he commented.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will will not instantly achieve the goal they hope for.
"I did not have such a figure, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live many of the situations they desire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, personal identity should not be imposed from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."
Purchasing UK Culture
Of course, Britishness is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
